National cups are something special for many teams and supporters. Today's match will decide whether it's Kyoto Sanga or Sanfrecce Hiroshima that keep their silverware dream alive.
It's no vacation for neither Kyoto Sanga nor Sanfrecce Hiroshima as both were in action only a few days ago. Expect some tired legs on the pitch and/or possibly some changes to the lineups.
Kyoto Sanga form and stats
Kyoto participated in Emperor Cup the last season, where they reached the 4th round.The story so far in the J-League for Kyoto Sanga at their home stadium (Sanga Stadium by Kyocera) is 5 wins, 4 draws and 6 defeats.
Happy days for Kyoto Sanga in their previous game, a fixture away at Sagan Tosu that ended with a 1-0 victory. The striker Toyokawa outdid all others in that fixture and managed a match rating of 7.63 out of 10. Toyokawa scored one goal, hit two key passes and dribled past the opponent 1 of 2 times.
A J-League defeat was the result before that one, 0-2 away at Tokyo.The match schedule is unforgiving for Kyoto as they have a new game in only three days, a J-League match thankfully also at home. Nagoya Grampus are visiting.
On the other hand, Kyoto Sanga have conceded 16 goals.
Sanfrecce Hiroshima form and stats
Sanfrecce was sent out of Emperor Cup in the 2nd round last season.5-6-4 is the win-draw-loss statistic for Sanfrecce Hiroshima in their J-League matches away.
Morishima, Mitsuta (2) and Araki scored in Sanfrecce Hiroshima's previous match, the home game against Urawa Reds that ended 4-1. Goalkeeper Osako was absolutely vital in the Sanfrecce Hiroshima victory against Urawa Reds, making six saves. Mitsuta, attacking player, was the top performer on the team in that game, scoring a match rating of 9.12. Mitsuta scored two goals and hit three key passes.
Preceding that game, the 0-0 draw paying a visit to Nagoya Grampus.The visitors will be packing their bags again in only three days as another away game awaits: The J-League trip to Vissel Kobe.
The visiting Sanfrecce have scored more than one goal per away game in the league so far. The grand total is 19 goals from 15 games. As opposed to that, Sanfrecce Hiroshima have seen the ball go into their own net 20 times on the road.
Head 2 Head
Sanfrecce Hiroshima have pulled off a sequence of 6 consecutive matches without losing (4-2-0) when facing Kyoto.Top Goalscorers
  P. Utaka 9 goals |   M. Mitsuta 8 goals | T. Morishima 8 goals |
Kyoto Sanga missing players
Sanfrecce Hiroshima missing players
| Kyoto Sanga | Sanfrecce Hiroshima | ||||||
| Total | Home | Statistics | Stat | Away | Total | ||
| 25 | 12 | Played | P | 13 | 25 | ||
| 9 | 5 | Won | W | 8 | 17 | ||
| 5 | 3 | Drew | D | 2 | 4 | ||
| 11 | 4 | Lost | L | 3 | 4 | ||
| 24 | 14 | Scored | S | 20 | 50 | ||
| 31 | 11 | Conceded | C | 15 | 24 | ||
| 96% | 92% | Over 0.5 | O 0.5 | 92% | 96% | ||
| 60% | 67% | Over 1.5 | O 1.5 | 85% | 88% | ||
| 36% | 42% | Over 2.5 | O 2.5 | 62% | 60% | ||
| 16% | 8% | Over 3.5 | O 3.5 | 23% | 28% | ||
| 4% | 0% | Over 4.5 | O 4.5 | 8% | 16% | ||
| 48% | 58% | BTTS | BTTS | 38% | 48% | ||
| 24% | 25% | Clean Sheets | C S | 38% | 40% | ||
| 32% | 25% | Failed to Score | F T | 31% | 16% | ||
| 4.4 | 4.3 | Corners for (avg) | C F | 4.8 | 4.9 | ||
| 5.8 | 5.7 | Corners against (avg) | C A | 3.3 | 3.2 | ||
| 1.7 | 1.8 | Yellow cards (avg) | Y C | 1.4 | 1 | ||
| 2 | 0 | Red cards | R C | 0 | 1 | ||
| 10.7 | 11.9 | Shots (avg) | S ( | 13.5 | 14.9 | ||
| 4 | 4.8 | Shots on Target (avg) | S O | 4.5 | 5.6 | ||
| 24% | 24% | Goal Efficiency | G E | 34% | 36% | ||
| 14.4 | 13.6 | Shots against (avg) | S A | 11 | 10.1 | ||
| 5.5 | 6 | Shots on Target against (avg) | S O | 4 | 3.9 | ||
| Total | Home | Away | |||||||||||||||||||
| # | Team | MP | W | D | L | F | A | MP | W | D | L | F | A | MP | W | D | L | F | A | +/- | P |
| 1 | Yokohama F. Marinos | 30 | 18 | 8 | 4 | 63 | 30 | 14 | 11 | 3 | 0 | 29 | 6 | 16 | 7 | 5 | 4 | 34 | 24 | 33 | 62 |
| 2 | Kawasaki Frontale | 30 | 16 | 6 | 8 | 54 | 36 | 14 | 11 | 1 | 2 | 30 | 14 | 16 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 24 | 22 | 18 | 54 |
| 3 | Sanfrecce Hiroshima | 31 | 15 | 9 | 7 | 49 | 33 | 16 | 10 | 3 | 3 | 30 | 13 | 15 | 5 | 6 | 4 | 19 | 20 | 16 | 54 |
| 4 | Cerezo Osaka | 30 | 13 | 10 | 7 | 46 | 35 | 16 | 7 | 5 | 4 | 23 | 19 | 14 | 6 | 5 | 3 | 23 | 16 | 11 | 49 |
| 5 | Kashima Antlers | 31 | 12 | 11 | 8 | 43 | 39 | 16 | 7 | 5 | 4 | 25 | 22 | 15 | 5 | 6 | 4 | 18 | 17 | 4 | 47 |
| 6 | Tokyo | 30 | 13 | 7 | 10 | 39 | 36 | 14 | 7 | 5 | 2 | 21 | 10 | 16 | 6 | 2 | 8 | 18 | 26 | 3 | 46 |
| 7 | Kashiwa Reysol | 31 | 13 | 7 | 11 | 41 | 40 | 15 | 6 | 2 | 7 | 21 | 23 | 16 | 7 | 5 | 4 | 20 | 17 | 1 | 46 |
| 8 | Sagan Tosu | 31 | 9 | 14 | 8 | 42 | 37 | 16 | 5 | 8 | 3 | 21 | 11 | 15 | 4 | 6 | 5 | 21 | 26 | 5 | 41 |
| 9 | Urawa Reds | 30 | 9 | 13 | 8 | 43 | 32 | 14 | 6 | 6 | 2 | 28 | 14 | 16 | 3 | 7 | 6 | 15 | 18 | 11 | 40 |
| 10 | Nagoya Grampus | 31 | 9 | 12 | 10 | 26 | 33 | 16 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 15 | 16 | 15 | 3 | 6 | 6 | 11 | 17 | -7 | 39 |
| 11 | Consadole Sapporo | 30 | 9 | 11 | 10 | 37 | 48 | 15 | 6 | 6 | 3 | 20 | 19 | 15 | 3 | 5 | 7 | 17 | 29 | -11 | 38 |
| 12 | Vissel Kobe | 30 | 9 | 7 | 14 | 28 | 36 | 14 | 5 | 3 | 6 | 15 | 13 | 16 | 4 | 4 | 8 | 13 | 23 | -8 | 34 |
| 13 | Kyoto Sanga | 30 | 8 | 9 | 13 | 28 | 34 | 15 | 5 | 4 | 6 | 15 | 16 | 15 | 3 | 5 | 7 | 13 | 18 | -6 | 33 |
| 14 | Shimizu S-Pulse | 30 | 7 | 11 | 12 | 38 | 45 | 15 | 2 | 7 | 6 | 19 | 27 | 15 | 5 | 4 | 6 | 19 | 18 | -7 | 32 |
| 15 | Shonan Bellmare | 30 | 7 | 11 | 12 | 24 | 37 | 16 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 12 | 22 | 14 | 3 | 5 | 6 | 12 | 15 | -13 | 32 |
| 16 | Avispa Fukuoka | 31 | 7 | 10 | 14 | 24 | 35 | 16 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 15 | 17 | 15 | 3 | 4 | 8 | 9 | 18 | -11 | 31 |
| 17 | Gamba Osaka | 31 | 7 | 9 | 15 | 29 | 44 | 16 | 3 | 6 | 7 | 16 | 21 | 15 | 4 | 3 | 8 | 13 | 23 | -15 | 30 |
| 18 | Jubilo Iwata | 29 | 5 | 9 | 15 | 27 | 51 | 15 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 18 | 25 | 14 | 1 | 4 | 9 | 9 | 26 | -24 | 24 |
